And tonight's ep is:
Of Vice and Men. Veronica (Kristen Bell) is disappointed in Keith (Enrico Colantoni) for his ongoing relationship with his client, Harmony (guest star Laura San Giacomo, "Just Shoot Me"), who invites him on a romantic weekend getaway. When Veronica retreats to Wallace (Percy Daggs III) and Piz's (Chris Lowell) dorm room for some quiet time, Logan (Jason Dohring) seeks her help in clearing Mercer (guest star Ryan Devlin, "TRL") of the rape charges, but refuses to give her his alibi. Ryan Hansen, Francis Capra, Tina Majorino, Michael Muhney and Julie Gonzalo also star. Harry Winer directed the episode written by Phil Klemmer.
Hiro is my hero. He's adorable. :-)
Posted by: la gringa | November 14, 2006 at 11:23
I was skeptical of Heroes at first, but it sucked me in. At least in part this is because, compared to the "Lost"-y shows, it feels like things are moving really fast.
And yes, we love Hiro.
And if Jess doesn't get a haircut soon, I'm dropping the show despite liking it.
Posted by: Chris McLaren | November 14, 2006 at 11:34
I fail to see how anyone could not love Hiro. It would be like hating puppies.
Posted by: Abigail | November 14, 2006 at 11:39
Oh, now, Jess' hair isn't that bad. (He's no Piz!) He's sensitive shaggy hair guy.
The guy that plays his brother is married to a Dixie Chick, I'm told.
Hiro!
Posted by: Gwenda | November 14, 2006 at 11:41
Emo hair must go.
Here's a question: which do you like more future samurai Hiro, or unbelievably geeky needs-a-hug present Hiro?
The brother, in my mind and probably lots of other people's, is Jim Profit.
Posted by: Chris McLaren | November 14, 2006 at 11:48
Hiro-now and Hiro-tomorrow both work because the other exists, so I ain't picking.
I can't find my Invisibles GN with the stuff about Takashi sending the timesuit thingie from the future and showing the personality changes he (and others) have gone through, so I don't know whether I'm misremembering parallels that aren't actually there, but it definitely seems like an influence. Then again, I've been feverish for four or five days--though that might be a good way to read Morrison.
Posted by: Christopher | November 14, 2006 at 11:56
So I guess we will have Heroes chat starting next week.
I refuse to select a preferred Hiro either -- one of things that's so satisfying about the glimpse of future Hiro is that it seems the perfect evolution for the YooHoo! version we see now.
My main gripe so far is with how certain women, most particularly wives, are portrayed. And if they really killed the smart diner girl, I'm going to be superpissed.
Posted by: Gwenda | November 14, 2006 at 12:04
I just don't see them killing the diner girl off after investing so much screen time into her. Every other murder victim of Siler has been off-screen and basically shown as just a corpse. At the end of last night, we clearly saw a picture of her at her birthday party with Hiro, so I'm pretty sure she's saved and will be crucial to the continuation of the series. If not, I'm with you, superpissed.
I hated so much about this show at first, I can't figure out why I am liking it so much now. Hiro was the only thing holding it together for me and I was going to stop watching until future-Hiro showed up. And now I am hooked, if only to see Hiro's transformation. I really hope the writers know what they are doing with this.
Posted by: JeremyT | November 14, 2006 at 14:27
I love this show beyond all reason. Watching it feels exactly like reading a really great origin-story comicbook. Did you see how they put last night's episode name on the beach sand and then washed it out with the tide? That's kind of it in a nutshell, I think: the style of classic comic book with the immediacy and energy you can only get on film. The show is so much fun it's even managed to survive the tagline, "Save the cheerleader... Save the world." Which is no small obstacle to overcome.
Posted by: Karen M | November 14, 2006 at 19:03
The actor playing Jess hates the hairstyle and wanted to change it from day one but the powers that be liked the youthful aspect when compared to his older brother. I do think the bangs goes bye bye soon.
Yeah, women do seem to get uneven roles here. A cheerleader and an online stripper? But Clea Duvall and the actress from Brick are making up for it for me.
Posted by: Rob S | November 14, 2006 at 19:58
Well, this is definitely our show. The last two episodes have felt the most like it. But I'm still mulling this one.
Posted by: Gwenda | November 14, 2006 at 22:04
While watching the episode I was rolling my eyes (figuratively) at the all-men-suck-oh-wait-maybe-they're-just-human-beings-after-all arc. But upon reflection I think that all boiled down to Keith; V's only ever had one steady positive role model, and it happens to be her dad. So the fact that her disappointment in him might translate into a wholesale contempt for his gender makes a sort of textual sense. I'm not sure it makes that part of the episode any better, but there it is.
I did like the V-on-her-own aspect of the episode. The scene in the Fitzpatricks' bar was really scary, as was the parking lot scene. I don't like that she had to be rescued both times, though (although I do love that it was Vinnie doing the knight-in-shining-armor thing in the bar). I also don't like that V. seems more glammed up in every episode. I guess maybe they had her hair done up like that so that the horror of the head-shaving would be more pronounced? Dunno.
I'm surprised that I don't hate Piz. I liked his not-awake-yet dialogue, and his Wallace imitation nearly killed me.
Despite my gripes, I liked this one. Can't wait for next week!
Posted by: Dave Schwartz | November 15, 2006 at 11:23
I thought the juxtaposition between Veronica and Merryl was a little pat, and in general the writers spent a little too much time making damn sure that the audience got the point. I also didn't appreciate Logan's rescue of Veronica being used to pole-vault their relationship to the next level for the third time in its history, and for that matter I wasn't pleased with the fact that Veronica needed to be rescued twice in the space of a single episode (am I honestly supposed to believe she didn't call for backup before going into the River Stix?).
Those caveats aside, I thought this was an excellent episode. It makes sense that the discovery that Keith's moral compass isn't completely without flaw would send Veronica into a tailspin of suspicion and defensiveness (I'm glad someone mentioned Lianne and Jake Kane). Lots of people have already pointed out that one of the themes of this season seems to be Veronica learning that the black and white classifications she used to make her way through high school don't work in the real world, and learning that the people she admires can have flaws is the flip side of that lesson. Which is not to say that I think she should have trusted Logan to the extent of not questioning Mercer's alibi (and all I have to say about that revelation is that that kid really needs to find some friends who aren't assholes).
Doesn't the attack on Veronica seem a little outside the rapist's MO? The two rapes we know about happened late at night, after parties, and the victims were raped in their rooms. The logistics of the attack seem a bit strange too. Was the rapist going to drag Veronica, shaven-headed, to a secluded location, or was he going to have his way with her in the parking lot?
Posted by: Abigail | November 15, 2006 at 11:24
You know what I miss in VM? The first season had all kinds of interesting socioeconomic undercurrents at work, and I thought the show was going to expand on them over time, but instead it's just... dropped them. Class is apparently no longer an issue. Instead, the point of everything these days seems to be to explore Veronica's therapeutic needs: can she resolve her Trust Issues? And so on. I love the show, I think it's great tv, but I'm a little disappointed that it hasn't made good on some of that early promise.
Posted by: Karen M | November 15, 2006 at 11:52
I think the "rape" was totally outside the rapists MO. Which makes me think that maybe it wasn't the "actual" rapist at all: it's not like Veronica hasn't made enemies over this whole issue (the girl who was expelled, the Feminists, etc.), so maybe someone wanted to give V. a little scare, maybe as retribution for her defending the frat. Maybe the "rapist" wasn't even a man at all; it's not like either us or Veronica got a very good look at the person.
It's funny that Veronica was going on about how men suck (and really, given what she's been through during the course of the show, who could blame her?), and meanwhile Piz is sleeping on the floor of his own bedroom.
Is Sheriff Don Lamb a fan of "Arrested Development"?
Posted by: Bill S. | November 15, 2006 at 13:14
I agree that it's quite possible Veronica was drugged to scare her. It doesn't seem to fit the other attacks (as others have said) and the show likes to point you in the wrong direction.
I also agree with Karen in that I'm disappointed they seem to have dropped the class issues in Neptune. I suppose they've replaced them with gender issues instead, but I was hoping for a better examination of the situation.
Posted by: Rajan | November 15, 2006 at 14:49
I agree with Karen about class, I agree with Abigail about Veronica-needing-to-be-rescued (with the caveat that at the end of the episode, admittedly she was written as stupid to get into that situation, but once in it Logan didn't actually save her, she triggered her car alarm herself. But the River Stix was irritating enough for one episode), and I agree with everyone about Hiro. One week, I might actually watch the episode early enough to have a useful contribution to make to the discussion. :)
Posted by: Niall Harrison | November 16, 2006 at 03:24